A former Dunwoody police officer facing a sexual harassment lawsuit from another former officer says the explicit text messages they exchanged were consensual.
Former Dunwoody Police Lt. Fidel Espinoza in an Oct. 23 deposition in response to the 2020 sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former officer Bryan Castellanos, said the messages sent between the two of them were casual and consensual.
The 91-page deposition obtained by Rough Draft details Espinoza’s employment history, his ascension to power in the Dunwoody Police Department, and his fall from grace after multiple officers accused him of soliciting nude photos and sexual favors in exchange for lucrative off-duty jobs.
Castellanos’ $500,000 lawsuit alleges that Espinoza requested sexual favors from him and took a photo of Castellanos while he was using the bathroom. Leila Castellanos, who is also included in the suit, also claims that Espinoza texted her and asked inappropriate questions regarding her relationship with her husband.
In the deposition, however, Espinoza said any exchange of information between Castellanos, his wife, and other members of the department, including the sharing of explicit photos, was merely “locker room banter.”
Castellanos’ lawyer Benjamin Bengtson asked him about a series of text messages that were exchanged between the two that were detailed in Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan’s 2020 report detailing the allegations.
However, when asked about specific messages detailed in the report, Espinoza either said he didn’t send them or didn’t remember sending them.
Bengtson quoted one of Espinoza’s messages to Castellanos that said, “I think I might have touched your meat stick tonight. Felt solid, LOL. You get a free grab and squeeze of mine next time I see [you], $0 no charge.”
Espinoza said he didn’t recall sending the message but added that Castellanos had a habit of using the phrase “meat stick” and touching other officers’ groins with pieces of paper.
“He would, for example, he’d have a rolled-up piece of paper in his hand or whatever it may be, and he would, you know, caress the groin area [of] male police officers,” Espinoza said. “That was his thing.”
Espinoza also admitted to sending nude pictures of himself to Castellanos, who now works for the Brookhaven Police Department, but said it was part of the casual “banter” the two had on a regular basis. He also claimed that Castellanos’ wife was a willing participant in live chats that showed her partially nude in bed.
“Leila would be laying down. They were always in – seemed to always kind of lounge around the bed,” he said. “Leila would be braless and he would focus in on her breasts. And so that was the casualness our – of our conversation.”
Bengtson asked if the explicit messages Espinoza sent signaled that he wanted to have a sexual relationship with Castellanos, which Espinoza denied.
“You joke and you play. It’s no different than telling a raunchy joke in front of family or friends and it’s a – or whatever,” he said. “It gets dismissed. There’s no expectation or, you know, demand or, you know, no secret implication, wink, wink.”
Bengtson also asked Espinoza about his sexual preference, which he declined to answer.
“Throughout – until I met you, I got this impression that you are, like, flamboyantly gay, but I don’t get that impression now,” Bengtson said. “You’re not gay?”
Espinoza’s attorney Theodore Meeker objected to the question, saying that it wasn’t relevant to the case, and Espinoza declined to answer on Meeker’s advice.
Espinoza also said he resigned from Dunwoody’s Police Department because it “seemed like the right thing to do at the time.” He said he was embarrassed by the allegations, but denied that any of them were credible.
The majority of the testimony detailed Espinoza’s employment history, including stints as a patrol officer for DeKalb County, Doraville, Carollton, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department. Espinoza said he joined the Army right after graduating from high school and was honorably discharged after two years of service.
Espinoza also said he attended seminary at St. John Vianney in Miami, Fla,, but left after two years during the discernment period, which is the time that students decide whether or not they want to officially become an ordained priest.
Espinoza said he is currently living in a mobile home in Boyton Beach Fla., selling new and used cars for Schumacher Automotive Group. He said he has no plans to return to law enforcement.
Rough Draft reached out to both Meeker and Bengtson for comment regarding the deposition.
“I have no comment at this time,” Meeker said.
Bengtson did not respond to Rough Draft.
